After a car accident, you might not know if you’re seriously injured. This is because when your adrenaline is high after the crash, it can prevent you from feeling pain.
While delayed symptoms are common, insurance companies often use them to deny collision claims by suggesting the victim is faking their injuries. Here’s what you should know and what we can do to help.
What Are Delayed Symptoms?
Delayed symptoms are medical issues that occur days or weeks after an accident when the person initially reported no injuries. This is becoming more common than ever as vehicles are manufactured with more advanced safety features and the rate of catastrophic injuries decreases.
Some of the conditions that are frequently associated with delayed symptoms after an accident include whiplash, back injuries, concussion, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) internal bleeding, and brain injury.
Reasons for Delayed Symptoms
Adrenaline is a “rescue chemical” that blocks pain receptors and gives you additional energy to escape a dangerous situation. As this wears off after the collision, you may start to notice unpleasant symptoms like headaches, dizziness, back and neck pain, or severe anxiety.
Other causes of delayed symptoms include:
Normal Biological Responses
The body’s normal response to injuries is to send extra blood and nutrients to the area to begin the healing process. This causes inflammation and swelling over time. As inflammation continues to worsen, other symptoms like redness and throbbing often arise.
The Nature of the Injury
Some injuries just aren’t apparent right away. This is particularly the case with concussions. It’s a common misconception that concussions aren’t serious. These are, in fact, mild brain injuries that can cause things like cognitive decline, memory problems, and severe headaches.
Psychological trauma also tends to hide itself until several months or even years after the accident. The brain often compartmentalizes traumatic memories to protect itself and will keep them “out of the way” after the accident to allow the person to continue living normally.
Eventually, the emotional component of what happened catches up and the victim requires care for things like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. This is often much later though and may be after a claim has already been filed and paid.
Why It’s Critical to Get Immediate Medical Care
Many injuries that occur in motor vehicle collisions have the potential to be life threatening or can leave victims with chronic pain and long-term limitations. That said, there is often a window of time after the accident in which medical intervention can prevent this from happening.
This is particularly the case with things like internal bleeding or limb injuries where surgery could be performed to stop bleeding or nerve tissue death before it progresses past the point of no return.
How Delayed Symptoms Affect Your Car Accident Claim
Delayed symptoms and when you seek medical care affects more than your health. It also has a significant impact on your collision claim. If you waited to go to the hospital after your accident, the defense may be able to gain a lot of ground by claiming that you weren’t seriously injured and that something else must have happened to cause you to be as hurt as you are.
This is where writing down your symptoms and everything related to your accident in the weeks and months following the collision is so critical. It provides a consistent record of your recovery from the time of the crash up to the present moment, even if you can’t remember what happened or how you were feeling.
If possible, put these notes in your phone or a private app that will provide a date and timestamp for when the entry was logged. This will make it easier for you to enter the information into evidence once you file your claim.
Get Experienced Legal Support After a Crash from Mazow | McCullough, PC
Were you or someone you know hurt in a car crash? Don’t wait to contact an experienced Salem car accident lawyer. The availability and amount of compensation you could receive hinges on what you do now, so it’s critical to take swift action to protect your rights.
Start by calling our office at (978) 744-8000 or toll free at (855) 693-9084. We’ll help you take the next step towards recovering from your injuries and pursuing the full and fair compensation you deserve after being in an accident.
